Container and separable information tag



May 14, 1957 G. c. SPARKS 2,792,167

CONTAINER AND SEPARABLE INFORMATION TAG Filed Feb. 27, .1956

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United States Patent 2,792,167 CONTAINER AND SEgilABLE INFORMATIONGeorge C. Sparks, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application February 27, 1956, Serial No. 567,863

2 Claims. (Cl. 229-40) My invention relates to a new and usefulcontainer and separable information tag and especially has to do withthe packaging of medicinal samples to be supplied by pharmaceuticalmanufacturers tophysicians for distribution to patients for trial use.The container must be such that it will remain tightly closed althoughreadily openable, attractive in order to draw attention to the subjectand must contain information for the physician which is undesirable topass on to the patient receiving the sample and therefore easilyremovable prior to giving out the packaged sample.

An object of the invention is to provide a container fashioned from aheavy paper, plastic or thin cardboard blank which, when folded,includes a back wall, upright side and end walls, generally triangularclosure flaps having cooperating interengaging holding tabs at themeeting corners, and a separable information tag including a neckportion joined by a weakened section to one side edge of one of theclosure flaps overlying another closure flap and folded around a sidewall, and a body portion underlying the back wall and, preferably,commensurate in size and proportion with said back wall.

Another object of this invention is to provide a relatively flatrectangular, preferably oblong, container including closure flaps onwhat is to be considered the top or front of the article and oninformation tag joined to one of the closure flaps: and foldable arounda side and disposed against the back of the container.

A further object of the present invention is to provide unique closureflap holding means in the form of interlocking tabs which wheninterengaged produce an effective fastening having the attractiveappearance of a rosette.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a container witha separable information tag made of pliable material, like paper,plastic, cardboard or pasteboard for instance, and which is produced inthe form of a flat blank cut to proper form and creased to permitfolding for the purpose of forming a container including closure flapsfrom one of which projects an information tag having the body thereofdisposed on the outside of the container back, the line of juncturebetween the information tag and its complementary fiap being weakenedthroughout the major portion of its length and slit for a minor portionor the balance of its length at one end contiguous an edge of thecontainer.

With the above and other objects in view this invention consists of thedetails of construction and combination of elements hereinafter setforth and then designated by the claims.

in order that those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains may understand how to make and use the same I will describeits construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanyingdrawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the container with separableinformation tag in closed condition and looking downwardly at the top orfront thereof.

Patented May 14, 1957 Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the sametaken at the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a face view of the blank from which the container andseparable tag are formed by folding said blank.

Figure 4 is a top plan View of the article partially closed as duringthe folding operations.

In carrying out the invention as herein embodied 10 represents acontainer or box blank cut from suitable material, such as paper,plastic, cardboard, paste-board and the like, and scored to provide foldlines so that when properly folded there is provided a rectangular backwall 11, opposed 'side walls 12, 13 defined and articulated relative tosaid back wall by the scored fold line 14, 15 respectively, opposed endwalls 16, 17 also defined and articulated relative to said back wall 11by the scored fold lines 18, 19 respectively.

The opposed side walls 12, 13 are provided with scalene triangularclosure flaps 20, 21 defined and articulated relative to the respectiveside Walls 12, 13 by the scored fold lines 22, 23 respectively, andlikewise the end walls 16, 17 are provided with scalene triangularclosure flaps 24, 25 defined and articulated relative to the saidrespective end walls, 16, 17 by the scored fold lines 26, 27respectively.

The opposed closure flaps of each pair are so arranged that the exteriorprojected angles are on opposite sides of a center line drawn throughthe back wall 11, either longitudinally or transversely. On the exteriorcorners of all of the closure flaps 20, 21, 24 and 25 are formed theintegral substantially oval shaped locking or holding tabs 28, 29, 30and 31 respectively. The axes of the looking tabs are in endwisealignment with the sides of intermediate length of the respectivetriangular closure flaps with which said tabs are integrally joined byrestricted necks thereby forming keeper notches 32 to receive portionsof the necks of other locking tabs in interlocking relations toeventually fasten all or" the closure flaps together.

With the smaller side of one of the triangular closure flaps, as 25, isformed the information tag indicated generally by the reference numeral33. This tag 33 includes a relatively narrow extension strip 34projecting from a side of a closure flap, defined with relation to saidclosure flap by a weakened line 35 and a small slit 36 contiguous thebase of the triangular closure flap in end wise alignment with saidweakened line 35, and a body portion 37 of large size, preferably ofsubstantially the same size and contour as the back wall 11 of thecontainer element. The extension strip 34 has parallel scored fold lines38, 39 which substantially coincide with the fold lines 15, 23 when thearticle is completely assembled.

In practice, the blank is partially folded into shape to form thecontainer with the closure flaps spread apart and the item or items,which are usually thin, that are to be packaged are disposed on theinner face of the back wall 11. The closure flaps are then folded in andfastened by the interengagement of the holding or locking tabs. This maybe accomplished, for example, by causing the necks of the tabs 28 and 29to enter the notches 32 of the companion or complementary tabs 29 and 28respectively, then folding in the closure flap 24 under the tab 29 andpartially overlapping the tab 28 so that the neck of tab 29 also will beWithin notch 32 of said tab 29 and finally the closure flap 25 is foldedover and its tab 31 inserted under the tab 28 and partly overlapping thetab 29 so that the neck of tab 31 will be within the notch 32 of saidtab 31. The closure flaps now are securely fastened together by theinterlocking relation of the various tabs which form a rosette figure,as seen in Figure l, and where alternate tabs and sometimes the flapsare of different or contrasting colors a very attractive package isprovided. When the package is closed, a portion of the extension strip34 overlies the front of the container, particularly a part of flap 21,for example, and this causes a portion of said flap 21 to 'be deflectedinwardly, Figure 2, while the balance of said flap 21 and all of theother flaps are in substantially the same plane since their side edgespractically meet. The balance of said extension strip is folded over thecontiguous edge of the container with the body 37 of the information tagdisposed on the outer face of back wall 11, Figures 1 and 2.

The container, preferably, is rather shallow because the item or items,usually samples, are relatively thin and few in number and the packageis especially designed for medicinal samples to be given bypharmaceutical manufacturers to physicians for distribution to patientsfor trial use. To carry out this feature, the component, ingredients orcomposition of the samples, the advantages thereof, the name of thepreparation, dosage and/ or method of use can be printed on one or bothsurfaces of the information tag body for the physicians use and beforehe gives the same to a patient said tag can be torn off along theweakened line 35 which operation is expedited by the small slit 36functioning as the starting point.

The party desiring to remove the contents only has to pull on thelocking tabs with suflicient force to disengage them from one anotherand'the closure flaps then can be drawn outwardly to expose the interiorof the container. It will be obvious that the actual items may beenclosed in an appropriate Wrapper and if desirable padding can be fixedto the inner surface of the back wall.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details ofconstruction herein shown and described as these may be varied withinthe scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and useful is:

l. A container comprising a rectangular back wall, opposed upright sidewalls, opposed upright end walls, said side and end walls projectingfrom the edges of said back wall, substantially triangular shapedclosure flaps extending from said side and end walls and projectinginwardly towards one another and meeting above the center of said backwall, said closure flaps being formed with complementary locking tabsadapted to interlock with each other to hold the closure flaps in aclosed position, an extension strip formed with one of the closure flapsand defined relative to said closure flap by a weakened tear lineincluding a slit at one end, and an information tag body substantiallyof the same shape and size as the container back Wall and adapted tocontain information concerning the contents of the container, saidextension strip folded about one of the upright walls with the tag bodydisposed against the outer surface of said back wall.

2. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the closure flaps are ofscalene triangular shape and the locking tabs when interengaged forminga rosette.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS911,884 Kyle Feb. 9, 1909 1,116,043 Elliott Nov. 3, 1914 1,760,106 BeachMay 27, 1930 2,329,360 Salfisberg Sept. 14, 1943

